Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Twilight's Gleaming
by happybeethovenday
Summary: When a major Confederate shipyard world seeks to join the Republic again, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are tasked with its defense by the Senate Minister of State, Bail Organa. But, with a nefarious plot at work, will they succeed?


**Star Wars: The Clone Wars**

**Twilight's Gleaming**

"General Kenobi?" The voice of Wulff Yularen, the Admiral commanding the Third Sector Navy, to which Kenobi and his former Padawan, Anakin Skywalker were attached, crackled out of the commlink.

"Yes, Admiral?" Kenobi spoke into his commlink.

"We've just received a highly encrypted communications, addressed to you personally, General. From the Minister of State."

"Right, I'll be to the communications center in a moment." Kenobi said quietly, standing up from his crossed-legged meditation position in the center of his quarters. Summoning his Lightsaber with the force, he walked into the stark, surgically white corridor, pressing a button on his comlink as he went.

"Anakin, meet me in the Communications Center in five minutes."

"Yes, master." The voice of his former padawan crackled back to him. Kenobi very deftly pressed a button next to the door of the turbolift, and heard the hydraulically-powered lift whoosh to the other side of the door. As it opened, he stepped in, and pressed the button for the bridge with a deft flick of the wrist.

_The Negotiator_, the flagship of the Third Systems Navy, and Operational Command Center of the Third Sector Army, was the newest of the seven large Venator-class Star Destroyers in the force. Its complement of 2,000 clone troopers and their support vehicles made sure that the bulk of Kenobi's Third Army would deploy quickly and efficiently in the event of battle.

With a thunk, and a whoosh, the door of the turbolift slid open, revealing the Communications center of the ship, Admiral Yularen standing beside the hologram display.

"General Kenobi, we've decoded the message, and are ready to play it at your leisure." Yularen announced as Anakin joined them at the display.

"Whenever you're ready, Admiral." Kenobi said quietly, clasping his hands behind his back as the hologram display flickered to life, and the image of Senator Bail Prestor Organa, the Minister of State for the Republic appeared.

"General Kenobi. Greetings. At approximately 14:23 Galactic Standard Time this evening, a communiqué was received by my office on Coruscant. It was a plea for assistance to the Republic, to help a planet vital to the Confederate War effort leave the Confederacy. Foerost is the home of dozens of Confederate droid factories, and a key shipyard that produces approximately a quarter of the Confederate fleets. It is also the second wealthiest planet of the Techno Union, which, of course, is one of the key financiers of the Confederate War Effort. Foerost plans to announce its secession from the Confederacy on my go-ahead order, and, as soon as the order is issued, you are to move into orbit above the planet, and secure the major cities, factories, and the orbital shipyards, and then await reinforcement from the First Systems Army. The Confederacy will not be willing to let Foerost go without a fight. May the force be with you, General."

The hologram flickered out.

"It's a trap." Anakin at once input, his face hardening into a scowl as he pressed a series of buttons on the console, and brought up a map of the Foerost system. The blue image of the large planet, and its two small moons flickered into existence before Kenobi, Skywalker, and Yularen.

"Well, we have our orders, Anakin. We must obey the wishes of the Senate – in this case, Senator Organa. Admiral, have the fleet set a course for the Foerost system. Lieutenant," Obi-Wan turned to the Communications Officer, "sound the Officer's call. I want Commander Cody on the bridge in five minutes, as well as Captain Rex, Alpha, and the various captains of the fleet represented by hologram."

"Yes, General." The clone saluted, and pressed a series of buttons on his console. Across the entire fleet, a warbling alarm sounded, recognizable to all as the assembly call for officers.

"Have you got a plan?" Anakin asked skeptically.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, actually."

"What is thy bidding, my master?" Count Dooku asked as he bowed low to the holographic projector in the council room on Cato Nemodia, where the various representatives of the Confederacy had just left.

"The Republic has seduced the planet of Foerost to leave the Confederacy." The voice of Darth Sideous grated out of the hologram's mouth. "Kenobi and Skywalker have been tasked with defending the planet from a certain responsive strike. Deal with Kenobi."

"It will be done, my master." Dooku hissed angrily. Foerost was the key shipyard of the Confederacy outside the control of the Nemodians. If it left, the war effort would suffer severely. No, he could not permit that to happen. As the hologram of Darth Sideous vanished, Dooku keyed in a special code on the hologram transmitter.

"General Grievous. Prepare your flagship for my arrival." Dooku spoke calmly and authoritatively.

"Yes, Count." The mechanically filtered voice of the Kaleesh warlord sounded, and the communication closed as suddenly as it had begun, and Dookus swept from the room, his brown cape billowing behind him as he subconsciously fingered the hilt of his Lightsaber.


End file.
